Tonya N.

Newbie here ?‍♀️ First ever cruise was March this year on Mariner of the Seas. Family of 4, myself, husband, D13 and S17. We went during March break, what an experience that was! It was busy and we had over 1000 college students on our cruise but not once did we feel so overwhelmed. Infact, we loved the cruise so much that I booked another shortly after getting home. I am curious as to what a cruise ship looks like not on spring break! lol Unfortunately we won't know as we booked Navigator for 2020 March Break. I don't want to pull the kids out of school. Maybe an adults only cruise is next on the list and then we can book whenever ?

Newbie here ?‍♀️ First ever cruise was March this year on Mariner of the Seas. Family of 4, myself, husband, D13 and S17. We went during March break, what an experience that was! It was busy and we had over 1000 college students on our cruise but not once did we feel so overwhelmed. Infact, we loved the cruise so much that I booked another shortly after getting home. I am curious as to what a cruise ship looks like not on spring break! lol Unfortunately we won't know as we booked Navigator for 2020 March Break. I don't want to pull the kids out of school. Maybe an adults only cruise is next on the list and then we can book whenever ?

Newbie here ?‍♀️ First ever cruise was March this year on Mariner of the Seas. Family of 4, myself, husband, D13 and S17. We went during March break, what an experience that was! It was busy and we had over 1000 college students on our cruise but not once did we feel so overwhelmed. Infact, we loved the cruise so much that I booked another shortly after getting home. I am curious as to what a cruise ship looks like not on spring break! lol Unfortunately we won't know as we booked Navigator for 2020 March Break. I don't want to pull the kids out of school. Maybe an adults only cruise is next on the list and then we can book whenever ?

Welcome to the Blog, Tonya N

One of the things I do in advance of a cruise is study a foreign language, like French for St Martin (hoping for an excursion to that side of the island) and Spanish for San Juan or Mexico, etc.  It keeps me busy.   Another thing I do is study the books on tropical fish in hopes of going snorkeling.... Best of luck on your preparations!

Total first world problem here, but I'm dying waiting out the 620+ days I have before my next cruise in April, 2021.  My last cruise that we took 3 months ago was booked and planned in about 9 months, which was more mentally doable for me.  We can't afford to go again for a couple more years, but we know when we can go with our kids' school schedules, so I was able to take advantage of the good rates by booking this early.  But I don't know what to do with myself to make the time go faster.  I'm researching the ship and ports online all the time, but I can't book any shore excursions or make any real plans this far out, which I'd probably change 10 times between now and then anyway.  Even my wedding 20 years ago was planned in a shorter time than this (about 18 months) and I'm going crazy waiting.  I'm mostly just venting, but if you have any coping mechanisms to suggest other than booking more cruises in the middle, I'm all ears.   BTW, we'll be on the Freedom ABC Islands/St. Maarten cruise then.